


Autumn Boys

by mariwritessometimes



Category: None - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27991884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariwritessometimes/pseuds/mariwritessometimes
Summary: What happens when Theo wanders near the forest?
Kudos: 1





	Autumn Boys

A lot of things were on Theo’s mind, school not being one of them. His eyes darted back and forth, hopelessly trying to find interest in his bleeding white walls. All of his attempts failed as he groaned frustratedly. He was left alone, two weeks of fall break ahead of him. His mother working two jobs to support them still left an uneasy feeling bubbling in his stomach.

Closing his eyes for a moment helped him ease into the quiet autumn afternoon. He let the sound of small droplets of water cave in as they created a soothing melody against his window. Dim sunlight settled on the many posters sticking to his walls, along with polaroids and photographs, stuck to his wall by tape. The room itself was quite small; just a bed, a study table, a chair and some bookshelves accompanied by a rug filled the half-empty room. There had been drawings and portraits of his friends pinned on a small bulletin board hung over his table.  
His limbs finally relaxed against the softness of his mattress, with the occasional cramping of his leg. But that didn’t matter. Being too drowsy and sleepy to care, his eyelids just fluttered when any kind of discomfort had occurred.

What had interrupted his almost-falling-asleep session were sounds he knew very well – paws colliding with his wooden floor and then coming to a pause when they reached the carpet. His eyes shot open when weight was placed in his lap.

“Whoa there. Easy, Snow,” he said, almost out of breath, having his dog crush his internal organs.

Finally getting the attention she’d been asking for, she wagged her tail excitedly and procceeded to lick his face.

Snow was a small, chubby samoyed, with her long, almost snow-like fur, hence the name. One of her ears had been missing a small portion of it, her frame otherwise flawless. Everytime she’d opened her mouth to pant, the ends of her mouth curled up in what seemed like a smile.

“Good girl, good girl,” he said, lowering his voice a little and scratching her behind the ears.

After cuddling his dog and talking to her for a little while, Theo noticed the harness placed on his doorstep, just where Snow leaves it when she wants to go for a walk, well, a stroll through the woods, to be more exact.

And so, he did, he carefully put the harness on her and tied a seaweed green bandana around her neck. The one his grandfather had given to him when he was younger. It never really fit him well, as his mom would say, so he just gifted it to Snow.

Theo put a jacket on along with some boots. The next stop was the mirror in the hallway. His ginger hair had been an utter mess, dark circles lining his green eyes. His button nose had a bandage plastered over it, dried blood surrounding it. After giving himself a you-don’t-look-that-bad he was quick to burst through his front door. Snow followed accordingly, jumping out and running around happily. The sides of his lips quirked up a little as he let Snow lead the way, just like she always does.

Theo could tell Snow wasn’t heading for the park when she continued to run straight, now walking off the sidewalk, checking behind her, making sure he was still following close behind.

Her paws have gotten all muddy and brown, thanks to the rainy weather and puddles Snow couldn’t afford to miss. One thing about Snow was, she loved water and puddles were essentially free water, so who really cares? The way she looked at Theo, as if asking for permission when seeing a puddle, made him giggle a little, nodding his head.

“No wet dogs in this house,” his mom would say when him and Snow had gotten all wet and muddy. Her words didn’t hold anger, only playful teasing, as she knew full well, she was letting a wet dog in their house. She loved Snow too much, maybe even more than Theo did. His mother spoiled her dog more than she spoiled her own son, but Theo didn’t have the heart to even bring it up, God forbid them actually having a conversation about it.

Theo’s mother was a mystery to Theo. Despite living with her since he was born, he couldn’t really piece together a word that would describe her. Not in the slightest. Hard-working, maybe, he thought. Mysterious. Her lips covered in lipstick and her eyelids with eyeshadow dusted all over them; just who was she trying to fool? Theo didn’t like the way she hid her freckles and her sunkissed cheeks in make up. “It just looks better this way,” was her go-to. She was naturally beautiful, her perfectly shaped face and cheekbones were almost flawless with freckles dotted over them. Her eyes were always sparkling with anticipation, her hair down or pulled back in a messy braid.

Deep in thought, he tripped over his own feet, stumbling forward. He closed his eyes, preparing for the pain of his body crashing against the sidewalk, which never came, instead, a pair of warm hands had caught his flailing body.

“Are you okay? You scared me,” upon opening his eyes, he was met with a calm, perhaps amused, expression. Looming over him was a boy, about his age, white curls of hair sitting atop his head.

“I… Sorry,” the initial shock of the fall made him forget that a stranger had an arm gently snaked around his waist.

A wave of realization washed over him as he flinched and took a step back, breaking free. “Sorry.”

“You like that word, don’t you? My name’s Nathaniel, if you’d like to upgrade your vocabulary,” the stranger said cockily, picking up a thick book from the ground.  
Theo wasn’t exactly fond of meeting new people, especially when he wasn’t supposed to be doing that. For two whole weeks.

“Theo, ’s nice to meet you,” Theo muttered awkwardly, dusting his clothes off.

“Oh, so you do speak! Wonderful! Is that familiar yours? I’ve never seen such a dog before, what breed is he?” Snow immediately caught Nathaniel’s eyes.

“What did you just call her? She’s a samoyed, I think, though I’m not sure. We found her at the cemetery when she was a pup,” Theo watched Nathaniel with distrust.

“Seriously now, no need to pretend,” Nathaniel said, his strong British accent seeping through.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Um, actually, Snow and I were just about to head back-“

“Don’t make me put a truth spell on you!” Nathaniel scoffed.

That’s when Theo decided he’d had enough. He whistled softly, alerting Snow it was time to bust. However, Nathaniel had different plans; he’d muttered what seemed like gibberish to Theo and Theo’s feet were immediately caught in vines.

“What’s going on? How’d you do that?” Theo was panicking. He had no idea how this strange kid he’d known for roughly two minutes just made vines grow from the ground and keep his feet in place, or how his eyes shined a striking green. Nothing made sense anymore as he’d started wishing he would wake up and find out this had just been a fever dream all along.

“Witchcraft? Years of going to a school for witches? Oh lord, you’re actually clueless,” Nathaniel’s expression dropped, the vines releasing Theo’s feet.

“I’m new here and my parents allowed me to go to a proper human school,” Nathaniel explained, “so you’re not a witch after all.”

“What?”

Nathaniel just rolled his eyes.

Words began to slip from Theo’s lips, but he was quick to interrupt him, “Forget it.”

“Hey! Please don’t leave,” Theo felt his voice break and, if his thoughts hadn’t been racing so much, he would’ve been red all over.

Nathaniel’s posture stiffened, turning his head to face Theo again.

“Follow me.”

The way his voice shuddered sent chills down Theo’s spine.

But so, he did. Nathaniel seemed pretty familiar with the forest they were about to enter, despite there not being a path.

Snow had been following close behind, alert. There wasn’t much she could do, apart from hide her tail in between her legs and feel nervous with the sudden shift of the atmosphere.

“So,”

Nathaniel’s hand was already clasped over his mouth.

“Could you be any louder? It isn’t safe to be wandering around like this. Especially when there’s witch hunters out. It’s the season,” Nathaniel said, his tone nonchalant and apathetic.

“Why does that not surprise me,” Theo rolled his eyes and followed Nathaniel’s lead.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, they had finally arrived at a huge tree.

Nathaniel stepped forwards and whispered another sentence of gibberish. Before Theo could come up with a smart remark about how lame that sounded, he was met with shimmering stairs making their way to the top.

“Climb.”

“What? I- “

“Just do it, don’t be a wuss,” Nathaniel cursed under his breath as he pushed Theo forward.

“What about Snow? We can’t just leave her here!” Theo said, looking down at Snow, whose head was rested on her front paws.

“I can just teleport her up there. Teleporting the both of us would cost me a lot of energy.”

“Of course you can,” Theo groaned, irritated.

His irritation, however, was gone within seconds, remembering what the task at hand had been.

Climbing stairs that could disappear at any given chance wasn’t particularly intriguing per se, as it made Theo’s heart thump loudly against his ribcage. So loud, he was afraid Nathaniel could hear his heartbeat and make a witty comment about how much of a scaredy-cat he is.

“Okay… I’ll be right behind you, you won’t fall. Pinky promise?”

Nathaniel’s tone was no longer hostile and had gone soft. As he turned his head, he could see sparkles swimming in Nathaniel’s green eyes. His eyes weren’t naturally green, he had noted. Though, his real eye color was unknown; Theo couldn’t take a better look at him.

“That’s…” Theo’s sentence faded away as Nathaniel firmly grabbed his pinky and threaded his own finger through his.

“Now,” he almost whispered, “let’s just get this over with.”

Twenty steps in, Theo’s head was spinning and his heart was in his throat.

“I can’t do this.”

“Don’t worry, I know my protection spells. Even if you were to fall, you wouldn’t get hurt,” Nathaniel said calmly.

“Very comforting.”

Theo didn’t know what pushed him to explore the house of a possible-witch-serial-killer; something about him seemed so bizarre yet so human. There was no way he was going to go announcing it, no. He still hadn’t gotten over Nathaniel just casually draping an arm around his waist and acting all nonchalant about it. Who does that?

“We’re almost there,” said Nathaniel, interrupting his train of thought.

Nathaniel was right, as outlines of a large tree house had been now visible through the evening mist. The sun had already set, only strings of moonlight and Nathaniel’s steps illuminating Theo’s exposed limbs.

“Wow,” was all he had managed.

“Wow is right,” Theo could feel the smile in Nathaniel’s voice.

He’d gone speechless, his mouth hanging open, just slightly.

He’d turned to catch a glimpse of Nathaniel’s face, only to see his eyes half closed with the moonlight dancing on his pale skin, his coat hugging his shoulders loosely. Now was the time Theo really looked at him. His lips had been parted halfway, a green light radiating from under his eyelids. There had been freckles dusted all over his skin. His cheeks had been rosy from the biting wind and the October weather.

Theo had noticed Nathaniel’s crooked tie along with a two sizes too big white shirt barely sticking to his lanky form. His trousers were black, the same color as his coat. There had been a long necklace hanging from his neck – a small bottle; contents of it unknown to Theo.

The moment Nathaniel’s eyes began to flutter open, Theo hurriedly turned his head to look at a tree branch.

“That branch must be very interesting.”

“Shut up,” Theo said, biting the insides of his cheeks.

The rest of the travel was filled with Nathaniel humming melodies and Theo repeating his infamous shut up at least a hundred times, before Nathaniel had grown bored of his lack of interesting reactions.

Soon, they arrived at a door.

“Ladies first,” Nathaniel gestured towards the door politely.

“What are you, eight?” Theo said, rolling his eyes.

Entering the house, he noticed Halloween decorations and the lived-in atmosphere. A vibrant smell of cinnamon and butterscotch reminded him of his grandma’s cooking; sweet and delicious.

There had been a sofa, some pillows, bookcases and a small coffee table and a vase with dead flowers inside. The walls had been painted a light shade of orange; the windows closed with white patterned curtains blocking them from view.

With a snap of his fingers and words in a foreign language, now a little clearer than before, Nathaniel lit up the candles placed on the table.

“You live here?” Theo asked, finding sudden interest in his shoes.

“Do you humans have no basic understanding of witches? Of course, I don’t live here. I’m not some green witch offering advice to lost souls in this godforsaken forest,” Nathaniel said, disgusted.

“Woah, I was just asking. I didn’t even know witches were even real up until now, how do you think other humans percieve you?” Theo held up his hands defensively.

“Such foolish questions,” Nathaniel said under his breath, “but no, these types of houses usually belong to green witches, or as they prefer the forest witches. They’re essentially the stereotypical godmother fairies, except they’re witches and get all their energy from the forests and overall nature.”

“What’s the harm in that?”

“They do not contribute anything useful to society and are outcasts,” Nathaniel said, sitting down on the sofa, patting the space next to him.

Theo followed him and sat beside him awkwardly.

“That’s stupid,” Theo said, “I mean, of you. They’re just trying to do what they’re best at, it doesn’t have to be for your gain, does it?”

“You’re a funny one.”

“Mock me all you want,” Theo said, shifting away from Nathaniel.

“It’s no use explaining this to a simple human,” Nathaniel said, shooting him a sideways glance.

“It’s no use talking to arrogant brats.”

The atmosphere had gotten tense again, Theo side-eyeing Nathaniel and fiddling with his fingers.

“Very well, Theodore,” Nathaniel said coldly.

“Don’t give me that! Don’t you hear what you’re saying?” Theo exclaimed, locking eyes with him.

Nathaniel’s eyes were his natural color again, the dim light of the candles made them shine a warm gold.

“I’m sorry,” Nathaniel looked away, slowly.

“Come by when you actually mean it,” Theo said, standing up and whistling.

Snow had stood up and carefully made her way to Theo. Theo’d picked her up and carried her.

“I guessed you wouldn’t know my adress, so here,” Theo had quickly scribbled an adress on a piece of paper and put it down on his coffee table.

Theo gave Nathaniel one last glance before walking out the door. But before he could step on the first step, the steps had disappeared before his very eyes. Instead, a purple light surrounded both him and Snow and, in a few seconds, they found themselves on Theo’s bedroom floor.

A sticky note had been stuck to Theo’s forehead.

“Sleep well,” it read.

Theo’s lips formed a sloppy smile when he noticed it had been signed “very posh douche witch” and under it, for clarification, Nathaniel.

Snow had yawned and tried to get Theo’s attention by pulling on his pants.

“Sorry, Snow.”

He procceeded to take her harness and bandana off and petted her head, before yawning himself.

It had been a long night, Theo’s eyes closing immediately when flopping himself onto his bed. Snow had followed him, jumping on his bed and resting her head on his back. Just like that, they’d fallen asleep.

To Theo’s surprise a light knocking on his window woke him up before his alarm. Somehow, he knew who it was almost immediately, rising from his bed, still a little drowsy and tipsy, tiredness very much present and fogging his mind.

His eyes met with that of the boy in his window. White curls tangled and messy, slight circles under his hazel, almost golden eyes and rips in his white shirt, his tie now gone.

He’d opened the window.

“So, you really came,” said Theo hoarsely.

Nathaniel’s eyes darted between his eyes and lips nervously.

“I apologize, please forgive me,” said Nathaniel, shutting his eyes closed tightly.

“Woah, woah, what’s with the face? Nathan, it’s okay,” Theo said awkwardly, reassuring him.

Nathaniel looked up, sparkles returning to his irises. The morning sun illuminating his face and kissing his nose gently. “What did you just call me?”

“Nathan? Isn’t Nathaniel too long? It’s a little too posh douche witch, don’tcha think?”

“Like Theo,” Nathan thought for a moment, “I like it.”

“Nathan it is,” Theo smiled a genuine smile, a little bit of red rushing to Nathan’s cheeks.

After exchanging glances for what seemed like an eternity, Theo blurted “Come inside.”

Nathan crawled in, dusting his clothes off awkwardly.

“So!” Theo began, coughing, “you’re about to enter the very average and boring human life; a high school life, even!”

Nathan smiled at Theo, “So, you have to teach me how to human.”

“Not unless you teach me how to witch,” Theo grinned at him, his white teeth peeking through.

“I can teach you a few spells that humans can do,” Nathan offered.

“Are you kidding me? I could’ve been practicing spells and magic this whole time?”

Nathan looked amused, humming playfully.

“I teach you algebra and you teach me how to summon demons from nightmare dimensions.”

“Deal,” said Nathan.

“Well, if you’re already here you might as well make yourself useful and help me prepare breakfast.”

After a painful session of Nathan lacking any sort of experience in the cooking department, combined with Theo’s constant whining and pulling at his hair, the kitchen had become an utter mess. Flour everywhere, egg yolks swimming on Theo’s counter and milk spilled on the floor.

“I can just summon some breakfast?” Nathan suggested, eyeing the mess they’d made.

“That’s cheating! You’ll never know how good it tastes after you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into it,” Theo said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Not if it’s burnt and tastes disgusting,” Nathan grinned teasingly.

Theo just scoffed and procceded to clean it up, although Snow had licked most of the milk off the ground, there was still flour and eggs everywhere; a very poor attempt at making pancakes.

Nathan had been watching, not too far, leaning over the kitchen counter, pretending to read one of his very thick spellbooks. He began to whistle and murmur a spell, summoning small spirits with cleaning equipment. He’d run his hand through his hair, throwing his head back and smiling, amused.

“I don’t need your dirty tricks to clean up, witch boy,” Theo glared at him.

“Is that so?” Nathan hummed, smiling wickedly.

The spirits had done their work, making Theo’s kitchen cleaner than ever, even cleaner than when his mother would clean it, which wasn’t that often. She wouldn’t come home until Thursday, which left the two of them alone for four days.

“My mom will be overjoyed,” said Theo, his lips quirking up.

“I’m glad to be of help,” Nathan bowed jokingly, making Theo laugh.

“So how long are you staying?” asked Theo, pulling at the ends of his long sweater.

“I should be the one asking,” said Nathan, putting his book down, “my parents don’t really mind me staying at a friend’s house. Next thing you know they love you more than me.”

“Yeah right,” chuckled Theo, “a human boy who knows their secrets. Very likable.”

Their further conversation was filled with bad puns, Nathan explaining witch business to Theo and them just sitting in comfortable silence whilst sipping on tea Theo had prepared earlier.

The rain still hadn’t stopped pounding on the roof and sliding down the windows; sometimes lighting or thunder accompanied the droplets, the strong wind whistling, even through the window made it a cozy, cold autumnal morning.

Nathan’s head had been rested against Theo’s desk, a pencil slipping from his bony fingers and rolling its way onto the floor.

“I do not like algebra,” Nathan murmured, his voice quieted down by his arm.

“You’ll live,” said Theo, stretching his arms, “I think that’s enough for today, anyway. You seem to be getting a hold of it, though.”

Nathan perked his head up in excitement as tiredness washed over his features, making him rest his heavy head on the palm of his hand. He yawned, shutting his eyes closed and breathing out the excessive air in his lungs.

Theo just giggled at him, “You shouldn’t sleep like that, your spine is gonna get all crooked.”

“So be it,” Nathan sighed, smiling a tired, worn smile before falling asleep right there, on Theo’s table.

“You really are an idiot,” Theo grinned to himself as he threw a blanket over Nathan, whose soft snoring grew silent as Theo carefully shut the door closed and let Nathan take a short nap in his bedroom.  
He would’ve offered him a bed, but, that would be kind of weird, for them only knowing each other for a day and a half. Plus, boys shouldn’t share beds, should they? Theo’s mind had gotten all foggy as he tugged at his hair, threading his fingers through it obsessively.

His mom would tell him stories of a girl she’d known for a long time. “Since diapers,” she claimed. At first, Theo didn’t believe her; how could babies even be friends? She giggled and told him their mothers had known each other and so they were forced to get along, in a way. She’d mentioned how they’d share a bed every night and hold hands occasionally, too. But, it’s different; they’re girls. Him and Nathan are boys, that does make a difference, doesn’t it?

Before he could contemplate any further, Snow had made her way in, startling Theo out of his thoughts. “Jesus, Snow. You keep scaring me,” he whispered under his breath, patting the top of her head.

“We can’t go to the forest today,” Theo said, still petting her gently, “there’s a witch in my bedroom and I don’t want to know what he’ll do to the house when he wakes up and finds out I’m not there. The guy can be scary.”

Snow seemed to get the memo, whining a little, but still following Theo when he let her out for a little bit on their front porch.

Their house was the closest to the forest; their backyard was massive, giving Snow all the freedom she’d needed. When he was little, he’d play outside for hours to an end, inviting friends over all the time. But the time he’d loved the most was when he was alone and there’d been a light blanket of snow covering the streets. He’d build snowmen and make angels on the ground, his mom would read him all sorts of fairytales before bed, the nights had grown longer, the days shorter, Theo loved it all.

He sat down at his doorstep, watching Snow run around and chase her tail, clueless and most importantly, happy. She was always a ball of sunshine, even three years ago when him and his mom had stumbled upon a box with two puppies inside. One was sleeping, but the other one was wagging her tail excitedly. It seemed unusual; Theo could never imagine throwing such cute puppies away. Not in the dead of winter, letting them freeze to death. At a cemetery, too. His mom didn’t have the heart to just leave them there, and so they took Snow in and asked every family in the neighborhood if they wanted a puppy.

Soon, they stopped at a small house – the Griffins. Leo was already losing hope. “If they don’t take him we’ll have to take him to the shelter.” Just the thought made him shiver. It wasn’t the worst option, still better than freezing at the cemetery, but the shelter hadn’t been exactly well maintained. And adoption of the animals there was very rare. Either way, the puppy would be better off with a loving family.

Ringing the bell, there was a lump in Theo’s throat, his mother placing a hand on his shoulder for comfort, noticing the stiffness of his posture. The door opened and Theo’s heart dropped.

“Hi,” a boy, about a year older had opened the door, immediately eyeing the puppy.

“Hello, Jake, we’re very sorry to bother you, is your mom or dad home?” Theo’s mom spoke, smiling sweetly.

The boy just nodded and called for his parents. As they were waiting, he reached out to pet the puppy, but pulled his hand back. “Can I pet him?” he asked carefully, sparkles swimming in his green orbs.

“Of course you can, he’s very friendly, doesn’t bite. We found him at the cemetery just now. He’s looking for a home,” she explained warmly.

“Kara! What a surprise, what brings you here?” soon enough a young woman with golden wavy hair pulled back in a braid and hazel eyes appeared behind the boy.

“Jennifer,” his mom smiled, “we’re just wondering whether or not you’d like to take in this puppy. He’s very friendly, just as I told Jake, and he doesn’t bite. We found him just now.”

“Oh my! Of course we will, thank you!” Jennifer hadn’t thought for a moment, taking the puppy in and saying goodbye to Theo and his mom quickly.

“Wanna go home already?” Theo asked when Snow had come running, licking his cheeks.

Before he knew it, the sun was setting. His watch shone 5:03 PM.

And he’d decided it was about time to check on Nathan, since it’d been a few hours since he’d fallen asleep on his study table.

He ran upstairs, flicking the switch, allowing artificial light to flood the upstairs.

“Knock, knock…” Theo said carefully, letting himself in, only to see Nathan in the same position he’d left him in a few hours ago, snoring maybe a little louder than before.

Before Theo could begin waking him up, he’d noticed the sweat running down his porcelain-like skin; his shirt completely damp, along with the rest of his clothes. He’d been mumbling, too. Tossing and turning.

He was having a nightmare.

“Nathan? Wake up,” Theo had almost whispered, softly, running his fingers through Nathan’s hair. His fingertips were tracing his face lightly, delicately, as if he was made of glass and would break at any given moment.

Nathan’s eyes began to flutter open, as he looked around, confused and disoriented. “You…” he said, gasping, his breathing still somewhat ragged, “you’re okay.”

“Yeah,” Theo figured out for himself what Nathan’s nightmare had been about, “I’m here, it’s okay.”

“You can tell me about it later, or not tell me at all, that’s okay too,” Theo said gently.

“Didn’t know humans knew to show kindness when needed,” Nathan said weakly.

“You’re as good as new!” Theo said, pulling away from Nathan, heading towards his closet.

He’d opened it, searching for something that would fit Nathan. Theo, barely reaching 5’6 and Nathan, shooting up at nearly 6’0, made the chances of finding something that would fit him even the slightest very slim.

“Here you go, lover boy. Make sure not to stretch it out too much,” said Theo, throwing his oversized hoodie at Nathan, along with some sweatpants.

“I’ll be downstairs,” he added before disappearing into the dimly lit hallway.

Theo swallowed the lump in his throat, making his way downstairs, again.

He’d gotten used to going back and forth because his mother would often get sick, or would just take a break from her shifts. That’s when Theo took care of her, brought her breakfast to bed and checked her temperature regularly, pressing the back of his hand against his mother’s forehead.

He rested his limbs against his couch with a somewhat bored sigh.

Soon, Nathan appeared next to him, which, quite frankly, scarred Theo for life.

“Are you insane?” Theo exclaimed, pressing his palm to his chest, breathing heavily.

“Jeez, stop being such a child and get us something to eat,” said Nathan, burying his head in one of the pillows, making the end of his sentence muffled and barely intelligible.

“What am I, your maid?” grunted Theo, but pulled out his phone, searching around his contacts list until his thumb hovered over a contact titled ’Pizza ’. He’d pressed it, raising his phone to his ear.

“Don’t get too cocky, pumpkin spice.”

Fuziness clouded Theo’s mind as he let a pinkish color dust his face, smiling to himself at the nickname.

In a few minutes, the pizza had been ordered and the two of them had been rested on the couch.

Nathan bumped his leg into Theo’s playfully.

Instead of Theo’s usual “stop it”, there was a groan of pain sounding from Theo’s throat.

“Are you hurt?” was Nathan’s immediate reaction, sitting up and catching a glimpse of Theo’s body, checking for signs of injury.

“I’m fine,” Theo lied, still wearing a pained expression.

Nathan grabbed a hold of his foot, placing his fingers whre his leg bumped against his.

His fingertips shined a warm green, as he murmured. “Hey!” Theo said, almost yanking his leg from Nathan’s grip, but failing, Nathan’s grip too strong.

“There,” Nathan said, letting go, “you should be all right now.”

Nathan’s eyes still studied Theo’s face carefully, probably making sure there hadn’t been any further bruises or scratches to take care of.

Theo did feel better, his limbs had gotten lighter, cramps gone, his bruised and bloody nose no longer hurting when pressing his fingers against it.

Theo’s wide eyes soon met Nathan’s relaxed ones as he traced his fingertips against his skin, gently at first.

He couldn’t stand to keep his eyes locked with Nathan’s, so he quickly looked away, searching for something of interest.

The air had gotten thicker, neither of them saying a word. Silence had been so loud, Theo’s thoughts had been so loud, the rain had gotten louder, even the clacking of Theo’s teeth toying with the insides of his cheeks had grown unbearable to listen to. Nonetheless, he bit until he felt an iron taste on his tongue.

Nathan opened his mouth to speak, but the doorbell rang before he could say anything.

“The pizza,” Theo shot up from the couch, fishing in his pocket for money.

He’d thanked the pizza delivery person and handed him a few crumpled five dollar bills before shutting the door closed, locking it and placing the pizza on the coffee table.

At first, Nathan’s eyes were stuck on Theo’s face, somewhere in between his nose and chapped lips, until Theo decided to break the silence.

“You must be a psychopath to be eating pizza with pineapples,” stated Theo, opening the box, only to be greeted with a half and half pizza; one half covered in pineapples, the other one pineapple-free.

Nathan didn’t reply, looking ravenous. He’d stuffed his face with pizza, making Theo burst into laughter.

Theo hadn’t eaten, letting Nathan eating his half, too.

“So, why were you hurt?” asked Nathan after a while of silence.  
“Don’t wanna talk about it,” was all Theo remembered mumbling before resting his head against something soft and warm, letting sleep cast a peaceful spell on him.

He’d opened his eyes, fuziness and sleepiness keeping him from remembering about his whereabouts. Only the warmth against his cheek, only the cramping of his neck and the lightness of everything.

He’d fluttered them shut.

Wait.

Theo’d slowly raised his head, opening his eyes again, letting the sun kiss his face as he looked beside him. Nathan had his head rested against one of the cushions of Theo’s sofa, snoring, but otherwise sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling peacefully.

Theo’s cheeks had gone tinted red, carefully rising from the sofa to go upstairs and take a quick shower, trying to maintain a somewhat socially acceptable hygiene.

Coming out of the shower and back downstairs, he was greeted with a puzzled expression. Nathan’s eyes had been halfway closed, eyelids heavy as he perked his head up and cracked a tired smile.

“Mornin’,” he’d said, his voice deep and hoarse, sending shivers down Theo’s spine.

“Morning! Um, I’m sorry, I must’ve passed out,” Theo said, embarrassed.

“Heh, it’s quite alright,” Nathan hummed reassuringly, “you scared me when you suddenly just passed out against my shoulder, though.”

“I… I did that?” Theo felt himself tense as he watched Nathan with a terror filled expression.

“Oh, it’s not like it’s a bad thing! I wasn’t uncomfortable, it was… pretty nice, actually,” Nathan smiled a shy smile, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Theo’s heart rate rose as he dug his nails into his palms, feeling the warmth build up in his ears, spreading to his cheeks. He was glad Nathan wasn’t looking because he was probably beetroot red. He’d  
wondered what was going on with him. Maybe he had a fever or something, constantly going out in only a sweater wasn’t the brightest of ideas, after all.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” asked Nathan, sipping on coffee Theo had made for them earlier.

“Uhm,” Theo stopped, quickly trying to think of something, “I can show you around, maybe? This town is actually considered to be pretty witchy, but everyone usually thinks that’s just rumors, y’know?” 

Nathan nodded, a calm expression sitting on his face as his eyes traveled around Theo’s room.

“Ah! Uhm… Could you maybe… Ignore the posters, they’re sort of embarrassing,” Theo stuttered when he noticed Nathan openly looking around.

“Not to worry, I do not recognize any of these and I bet they’re all interesting series,” Nathan said, shooting Theo a comforting glance.

Theo just nodded as relief spilled across his chest. He’d known Nathan for roughly two days yet with just a smile and a glance he made him feel safe and welcome. Warm, even.

“It’s just, nobody really comes to my room anymore, I sort of…”

“Kicked everyone out?”

“You could say that,” Theo giggled but his expression quickly dropped, “even though it’s not exactly me kicking them out, it’s more like they didn’t really want to come in anymore after…”

Theo stopped himself, clasping a hand over his mouth in disbelief. Was he about to tell him everything? Just like that? He couldn’t. What would Nathaniel even think of him?

“Sorry,” he’d breathed, “got too ahead of myself. Ignore I said that.”

“It’s alright, we’re practically strangers, not counting in the fact that you know my secret.”

There he goes again with his all-knowing warm smile. He couldn’t believe himself. The way he smiled and looked at him, just listening made him want to tell him all the secrets of the universe, which, he didn’t even know himself. He’d learn them just to tell Nathan.

“Right! We should get going. It might start raining soon!” exclaimed Theo quickly, shooting up from his bed and grabbing a denim jacket.

Nathan just followed closely behind, smiling to himself.

After long fifteen minutes of explaining to Nathan about the glorious origins of the town, they’d finally arrived at the square.

“Okay so since you had to listen to all that junk, I’ll give you a little reward,” Theo smirked as he grabbed Nathan’s hand and tugged him along.

“Aaand we’re here!” Theo stopped, eyes immediately searching for Nathan’s expression.

“What exactly… Is this?” Nathan asked, a confused look on his face.

“A café, of course! It’s Harry Potter themed!” Theo beemed.

“Who’s that?”

“No time to explain! We’re in dire need of some hot chocolate and pumpkin spice latté!”

Theo had taken a long sip of his pumpkin spice latté, silently looking at Nathan’s eyes, which were now bored into the hot drink sitting across from him.

“You should drink up, your hot chocolate will get cold,” he’d suggested, grabbing Nathan’s attention.

“Yeah,” was all Theo got as Nathan continued to stare.

“You’re pretty quiet today. Everything alright?” he’d asked.

With a nod, Nathan finally took a sip of his hot chocolate, avoiding Theo’s eyes.

Theo just sighed, realizing he wouldn’t get an answer, even if he really tried. He took this time to look around the small café they’d wandered into. It was a cozy, family owned café, which wasn’t packed but wasn’t quite empty either, the walls full of Harry Potter decoration and fairy lights, undoubtably a work of the owner’s daughter and Theo’s friend, Autumn. She’d always rant about characters she didn’t like in history class, making both her and Theo get detention.

The fairy lights lit the café up, making it glow invitingly, as various delicious smells hit Theo’s nose. He was convinced everything in the building was Autumn’s idea – from the chairs with soft pillows to the menus and bookshelves filled with Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books. Everything was just so Autmn.

“Theo!” Theo’d immediately looked up, searching for the source of the excited yell.

Across from him stood Autumn in the flesh. A big smile plastered on her face. Her long curly hair was set loose, slightly brushing against her dark skin now illuminated by the dim lights. She was wearing  
her Harry Potter uniform she took pride in designing.

“Hey, Autumn,” Theo said, smiling gently as Autumn made her way to him.

“Are you alright? After all that ha…” she was interrupted by a please-change-the-subject look from Theo.

“And who might this be?” she shot Nathan a friendly look, changing the subject.

“Oh, this is Nathan, he’s new in town,” Theo’d gestured towards Nathan.

“Autumn,” she’d said simply, a warm smile on her lips as she stretched her hand out to him.

“Nathan,” he’d smiled, shaking her hand.

“So! Dessert?” she’d suggested awkwardly, whipping out a little notebook and pressing down on her pen, getting ready to write.

“We’ll have two cheesecakes,” Theo said, not letting Nathan have a chance to look at the menu.

“Alright! Two cheesecakes coming right up!” she’d exclaimed speedwalking towards the kitchen.

“So,” Nathan began, “you trying to buy me talking to you with cheesecakes?”

“Maybe. Got a problem with that?” Theo answered, chuckling.

“Not at all, pumpkin spice.”

“What? Did you just call me pumpkin spice?” he’d giggled.

“Yep. I’ve never met anyone who enjoys that,” Nathan said, a sly grin on his face, “plus your hair’s ginger.”

“Whatever, witch boy,” Theo smiled as Autumn quickly made their way towards them, placing two plates on their table. With a quick “enjoy your meal”, she was gone like the wind.

“Nathan,” Theo suddenly spoke up, breaking their comfortable silence.

“Yeah?” Nathan said, mouth full of cheesecake.

“You never told me why you guys call male magic practicers witches.”

“Oh, witch is actually gender neutral, everyone is a witch where I’m from,” Nathan explained.

Theo’d nodded at that, digging into his cheesecake whilst humming quietly, just quietly enough so Nathan couldn’t hear. He’d started thinking, overthinking, to be exact. School wasn’t near but it would be in a matter of a week. The blurry faces, the damp smell of the locker rooms, the loud groups Theo found himself gritting his teeth at, reaching for his ears. It had been too much, way too much for him to handle. But he can’t let Nathan know that. He’s better than that, he’s no longer what he was.

Leaving crumpled money and some change behind, the two had walked out of the café, laughing and being awfully loud. Theo’s mouth hurt from smiling and laughing so much as he reached for his stomach, feeling it ache. He didn’t know when or how Nathan learned to be so charming and stupidly hilarious.

“Okay, okay, Mr Funny man, that’s enough, my cheeks are gonna tear,” Theo tugged at Nahan’s sleeve, a big smile on his face.

Their steps were accompanied with small crunching of the fallen leaves under their shoes as they walked along the wet sidewalk. Luckily for them, the it had rained only lightly, no signs of heavy rain anywhere. The air had smelled of the rain as it grew thicker by the minute. As Theo breathed out, a small cloud of white appeared for a few seconds before vanishing.

And like that, they soon arrived in front of Theo’s house.

On his front porch, however, sat a tall girl with fluffy black hair pulled back by red pins. She wore a jacket over her sweater tucked into a plaid skirt. Her head had been down, tapping away at her phone, not taking note of Theo and Nathan’s presence until they stepped closer.

“Tori?” spoke Theo, making the girl finally look up and acknowledge their presence.

“Hey, dude,” said the girl with a soft smile, standing up and pulling Theo in for a strong hug.

“What brings you here?” asked Theo as she pulled away.

“I just wanted to check up on you, you didn’t return my calls and ignored all my texts, I was starting to get worried.”

“I’m fine!” said Theo quickly.

Tori narrowed her eyebrows in suspicion but quickly let her face drop with a sigh.

“Well, I refuse to believe that, your friend over there smells a little funky,” Tori looked in Nathan’s direction, shooting him a look of disapproval.

“So that’s why-“ before Nathan could finish his sentence, Tori stepped closer.

“Yup. I probably rubbed off on him and forgot to use the cover-up spell,” exhaled Tori as she ran a hand through her black hair, tugging at it.

Theo just eyed Tori up and down with a shocked expression, “Wait, you’re…”

To which she just nodded her head and gave Thep a guilty look.

“Okay, yeah, I get that, you were just trying to protect yourself. Nathan should’ve been more careful,” said Theo calmly, trying to silence his thoughts.

“Of course, I knew about a witch person coming, my parents are the head witches of this town, I basically know everything,” explained Tori, “however, I wasn’t expecting him to hang out with my only  
human friend.”

Nathan just fiddled with his fingers awkwardly, refusing to maintain eye contact.

“Only human friend? What about Autumn?” Theo asked, confused.

“She’s a nymph. Uses cover-up spells I taught her.”

“Ah,” Theo stammered, “I should’ve known.”

“Nah, that’s alright. I’m just meant to be looking after you guys,” she said, turning to Nathan, “that being said, I’m sorry for startling you, Nathan, was it? My name’s Victoria but Tori is just fine.”

She’d extended her hand to him with an obviously fake smile. Theo could see the hesitation in her eyes as she shook Nathan’s hand, squeezing it firmly. She was always like this, wary of new people. 

“Oh,” she’d turned before leaving, “call me when you’re ready to talk about it.”

Theo nodded nervously as she waved her goodbye.

Tori had always looked after him, even when she said it was because of Autumn, he knew she had cared for him. And even though she’d act like his mom sometimes, he knew she always meant well. When her and Autumn started dating, they seemed to have distanced themselves from him, making him feel alone and then-

“Um, Theo?” Nathan awoke him from his thoughts as he looked up at him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, inside we go!”

After that, many short autumnal days have passed by far too quickly for Theo to even notice until it was time to go to school again. Nathan had dropped by earlier, making his entrance by the window and was now laying across Theo’s bed, face down.

“I am going to pass away,” Nathan announced, barely audibly.

“No, you’re not,” Theo hummed, “it’s just school.”

A lie was told. From where Nathan was laying, he couldn’t see the trembling of his hands and clacking of his teeth. He’d been just as, if not more, dreading this very day – their return to school.

“How can you be so sure, pumpkin spice?”

“Trust me,” Theo’d said, trying to keep his voice from breaking, “it’s just a bunch of insecure teenagers forced to get along in a bad-smelling building everyone would like to burn down and…”

Much to Theo’s surprise, Nathan was now right across from him, piercing him with a cold gaze.

“You can stop now,” Nathan stated calmly, kneeling down a little, “it’s hard, isn’t it? That’s okay.”

“I don’t…” Theo’d looked up, only to see Nathan’s eyes glowing a bright green.

“You don’t want to go, correct?” a tone Theo’d never heard before escaped Nathan’s throat as he took his hand in his own, giving it a firm squeeze.

“What exactly are you…” before Theo could finish his sentenced he’d felt his body collide with Nathan’s awfully fast, warmth spilling across his chest as he felt his heart swell.

The same old weird warm feeling had returned. The unclassifiable feeling in his stomach and a shameful expression on his face resembling a smile. Tears had made their way down his cheeks as he’d gripped tight on the fabric of Nathan’s jacket, staining his chest and making a mess.

Nathan was rather sly with his words and whatever magic tricks he was using on Theo. He couldn’t decide between pinning it all on magic or giving some credit to his charming and inviting nature.

“You okay now?” he’d pulled away after a while, taking a hold of Theo’s cheeks and rubbing it in a slow motion.

Theo couldn’t stand to look anywhere near where Nathan’s face had been located. His cheeks now red, his eyes puffy and swollen from crying and his whole body growing weak.

“I… I think so…” he’d pulled away, wiping his snot away with his hand. A very gross gesture, as he’d concluded, but very necessary.

Nathan’s hand still cupping his cheek for comfort made him feel all sorts of things he couldn’t quite explain. He didn’t hate it, that’s for sure.

He’d finally forced himself to look up at the boy next to him, who’d smiled warmly in response, which made Theo’s heart skip a beat, reaching for Nathan’s hand, only to press it closer to his face and flutter his eyes shut, letting a stupid smile grow on his face.  
Theo’s sense of rationality had completely left his body as he let his tense muscles relax.

“Theo,” Nathan had said in that soft tone that sent chills down Theo’s spine, “your mother.”

“Oh!” Theo’d exclaimed, jumping from Nathan and awkwardly turning away, “she doesn’t know…”

“That’s right. How about you finally introduce me to her?” Nathan suggested sheepishly.

“Not possible. We have school in a bit and hiding you isn’t exactly a problem.”

“You don’t look quite…” a grimace appeared on Nathan’s face, “alright…”

Theo’d cringed, quickly turning to a mirror hung on his wall. Nathan wasn’t wrong; his whole face had been red, eyes swollen and some blood escaping his nose.

“You always get your way, don’t you, Nathaniel?”

Slowly going down the stairs, they’d heard gentle singing along with the radio on. As they got closer, they could make out a figure with an apron moving around the kitchen.

“Theo, honey? Is that you?” she’d hummed, not turning around.

“Heh, yeah, uhm, mom,” he’d gulped nervously, “I’d like to introduce you to someone.”

At that, his mom had quickly spun around, taking in the two boys on her stairs.

“Oh, darling I thought I wouldn’t see the day I’d finally get to meet him!” she’d clasped her hands together, running towards Nathan and capturing him in a tight hug.

“I’m Theo’s mom you tried so hard to avoid.”

“Mom-“ Theo started, but was immediately stopped by his mom pulling away.

“Mind telling me why you kept this witch boy away from me?” she’d smiled.

“You…” Nathan froze, “that’s the reason he smelled like a witch! Your rubbed off on him!”

Theo’s mom just swiftly shook her head, pointing to Theo.

“Oh, I use a blocking perfume, mostly everyone here knows me as a human,” she’d explained, “I didn’t rub off on him, it’s his natural smell.”

Shock shot his heart into his throat as he stared, wide eyed, not knowing who to look at first.

“I thought Victoria and Autumn were in charge of telling you,” she smirked, turning her back to the two, attending the pancakes on the frying pan.

Nathan had stared at Theo in disbelief as Theo started to shake. Not only did his own mom keep this huge thing about himself from him, she didn’t even plan on telling him herself.

“We’re not going to school today,” Theo stated, pulling at Nathan’s sleeve in a please-get-me-away-from-this-woman manner.

“Ah, that’s right,” Nathan stammered nervously, suddenly losing all his initial charm, “Theo over here doesn’t feel so well.”

Nathan’d placed his hand awkwardly on Theo’s shoulder for comfort.

“Didn’t expect him to,” she’d grinned a mischevious smile, “what about you, Mr Nathaniel? Wouldn’t this be your first day at a human school?”

Nathan just smiled, regaining his cool. “That should not be a problem, miss.”

“Well-behaved,” she’d pressed her slim body against the wooden counter behind her, “watch him for me.”

“No,” she’d stepped closer again, “swear on the river Styx that you’ll protect him.”

Theo’d immediately stepped in, slapping his mom’s hand away.

“Sorry, you don’t have to do that-“

“I swear on the river Styx to protect him no matter what,” Nathan took ahold of her hand, a soft glow soon illimunating their palms.

“You must really care about him,” concluded Theo’s mom as she slowly let go of him, giving him a fond look.

“Sure do,” spoke Nathan with a little bit of a shake in his voice.

“Now then,” sighed his mom, waving her hand, “how about you boys get an extra week off school to figure yourselves out?”

Theo shot Nathan an awkward look as they both nodded and slowly found their way into Theo’s room, once again, to carefully think about whatever the hell just happened.

“So,” Nathan had swiftly claimed his usual spot on Theo’s bed.

“So,” Theo repeated throwing his body against the bed, his head landing right next to Nathan’s thigh.

Nathan groaned. “This is simply too much to take in!”

“Oh, talk as if you have it hard, witch boy, I literally just found out I’m one of you guys,” Theo almost yelled, his mattress making his voice muffled.

“Considering your smell wasn’t as strong as everyone else’s, I can’t help but think you’re not a pure-blood,” said Nathan slowly.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Theo rose up, “what is this, some incredibly weird werewolf alernative universe fanfiction?”

“You just spoke too much human at once. But yes, you can be a pure-blood or a half-blood, obviously,” explained Nathan, leaning back a little.

“So my dad-“

“Yes, your father is a human, it appears,” he’d sighed, running his hand through his white curls.

“I don’t really know him,” Theo admitted, searching his memories, “wasn’t exactly around. I don’t think I’ve met him when I wasn’t a baby.”

Nathan had placed his hand on Theo’s head, patting it, making his hair even messier than it was before.

“Hey! Okay Mr Charming, we get it, you make it sooo easy to open up to you and-“ Theo’d stopped, realizing what he had just said.

“Oh?” Nathan’d smirked. The smirk made Theo want to sell his soul to him. For free.

“I take it back, I take it back!” Theo whined, burying his face in his bed again, “please wipe that stupid smirk off your face before I do it!”

Nathan just pet his head while giggling.

“Grateful for the feedback, pumpkin spice.”

After a few hours of small talk and a couple calls from Tori and Autumn, they’d finally gotten over the initial awkwardness of it all.

“I can’t believe you’re a witch,” Nathan said, turning his head to Theo’s face. They’d been laying down on their backs for the past fifteen minutes, talking about nothing in particular.

“Shouldn’t I be a wizard?” Theo asked, looking back up at his ceiling.

“Witch is actually gender neutral,” explained Nathan, “and wizard just sounds lame.”

After a couple seconds of silence, they’d both burst into laughter, grabbing for their stomachs.

What had interrupted their laughter was a knock. On the window.

Getting up, Theo could see Tori and Autumn on a broom, waving at them with smiles on their faces. He’d opened his window up, catching Autumn in his arms as she threw herself at him.

“Oh dear Zeus!” she’d exclaimed, “we’re taking the door next time!”

“Whatever you want, babe,” Tori had grinned, pressing a small kiss to Autumn’s forehead.

“Don’t you ’babe’ me, Victoria!” Autumn had crossed her arms, turning her head away from her.

“Uh, you guys can sit on the bed,” Theo suggested awkwardly.

Autumn became her energetic self again, running towards Nathan to pull him into a tight hug.

“Nathan! We missed you too! Have you been taking care of Theo?”

Before Nathan could even open his mouth, Theo cut in. “He’s not my babysitter!”

“He took care of you, though! Right, Nathan-bear?” Autumn pulled away with a seemingly friendly look on her face, sizing the boy up.

“Yes, ma’am!” he’d laughed lightly.

“Good,” Autumn’s smile now turned genuine as she turned to her girlfriend, “Tori, could you talk to Nathan for a bit? I’d like a word with Theo over here.”

“Yeah, sure, let’s go to the bathroom and uh… Talk witch business. See y’all later,” Tori waved them goodbye, dragging Nathan along.

Once the door clicked shut, Autumn quietly sat down on Theo’s bed, patting the space next to her, gesturing for Theo to sit down in a motherly manner.

Theo playfully rolled his eyes sitting next to Autumn.

“What is it, mom?” Theo’d smiled, getting ready for one of his best friend’s lectures.

“You and Nathan are close,” she’d started.

“Yeah,” he said awkwardly, fiddling his fingers.

“You opened up to him,” Autumn conncluded plaaying with her curly hair, “did you tell him about…”

Theo sighed in defeat.

“What would he think of me, Autumn? I can’t even stand up for myself, isn’t that pathetic?” Theo said, his voice breaking.

“Nobody thinks that, hun… They’re all a bunch of idiots-“

“With very low maturity levels and even lower IQs, I know,” Theo looked away, clenching his fist tightly.

“You shoud’ve called…” she’d sighed, sadness pooling in her sparkly eyes.

“You’re… You’re a girl. No offense, but…”

“I would’ve kicked their butts!” Autumn exclaimed.

“Nathan healed me, it’s fine,” he’d concluded, finding sudden interest in his socks.

“Thank goodness… You have to tell him, though. He cares about you,” she’d said in a calm tone, taking a hold of his hand, squeezing it.

“You really scared me, Theodore,” she’d giggled as tears rolled down her round cheeks.

“Hey, Autumn, I-“ before he could finish, she pulled him in, throwing the both of them on Theo’s bed.

“Don’t do that again, you idiot,” she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.

“Roger that,” he’d responded weakly, tracing his hands along her back.

Autumn had quickly pulled away, wiping her tears away.

“So,” she began, “what’s with the heart eyes, loverboy?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You and Nathan? You’re totally into each other!” she’d said, as if stating the obvious.

“I don’t… I don’t think I’m following,” Theo stared at her, confused.

“Seriously?” her jaw had dropped.

“We’re both… guys,” Theo said, blushing.

“Oh, don’t start that with me, boy! Tori and I are both girls and I still love her despite her being a huge idiot,” she’d said, smiling.

She’d reached both her hands to cup his face.

“Listen, sweetie,” she’d hummed, her voice smooth and quiet, “I know you’re… scared. I get that. After what they did, I’d be too… But that’s not the point here. You can feel like this, it’s not wrong.”

“I… I don’t think I know what I feel, it’s really confusing,” Theo confessed clenching his shirt.

“That’s okay, baby,” she’d smiled, tracing circles on his cheeks, “you’ll figure it out. You’re one of the strongest people I know, I hope you realize that.”

Theo just let her as he fluttered his eyes shut, nodding.

“I love you,” she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

“I love you too, mom,” he giggled, hugging her again.

Soft knocking sounded from the door. “You can enter!” Theo yelled, pulling away with a smile.

The two walked in, surprised at the atmosphere in Theo’s dimly lit room.

“You guys,” Tori stopped in her tracks, “what did you do?”

“It’s a long story,” said Autumn, wiping her puffy eyes.

“Alright, I see,” Tori sighed, taking her grilfriend’s hand, “I’ll take care of this crybaby, you guys have fun!”

“Oh, Nathan,” she’d turned to him, “do what’s right.”

With a vague message and Autumn in her arms, Tori and Autumn disappeared into thin air.

Nathan sat down next to Theo, scooting a little closer to rest his head on his shoulder.

“Well, aren’t you touchy today,” Theo joked.

“Shut up, pumpkin spice,” he’d muttered into his shoulder, “you have some explaining to do.”

Theo’d looked at him as Nathan slowly rose up from his shoulder, now looking him in the eyes.

“I do, huh… Well,” he started, “I always got bullied anyways, it didn’t exactly come as a surprise to me as much as it did to Autumn.”

Nathan’s expression had turned concerned as he reached for Theo’s hand.

“They got violent,” Theo explained softly, “because I wasn’t exactly masculine and they thought…”

Theo felt his voice get stuck in his throat.

“…they thought I liked boys.”

He couldn’t stand to look at him, instead glued his eyes as far as possible.

“Theo… I’m really sorry… You certainly did not deserve any of that,” Nathan whispered, slowly pulling Theo’s body closer to his.

“It’s okay…” he’d sniffled, “aren’t you disappointed?”

“What?” Nathan pulled away, wiping Theo’s tears away, “Theo, I could never be disappointed in you. They were a bunch of jerks.”

“What if… What if what they thought wasn’t wrong…?”

Nathan just smiled warmly. “That does not matter to me, Theo. I’m sort of glad, actually.”

“Glad…? You…” Theo stared at Nathan’s flushed cheeks, his eyes in their normal state and his curved nose.

“Yes, I thought I was being obvious. You humans really are dense,” he teased.

Theo felt his temperature rise as his cheeks grew a feverish red, looking at him.

“I like you, Theo,” Nathan finally broke the silence, smiling nervously.

“I… I like you too, you stupid witch idiot,” Theo felt himself tense as he stared back into Nathan’s eyes.

Sparkles swam in his eyes as his pupils widened. Theo could see his reflection as he moved closer.

“Um,” he’d stopped, “I’ve never really… Kissed anyone before.”

“That’s okay,” Nathan smiled, “just follow my lead.”

With that, he’d allowed Nathan to scoot closer.

The sudden pressure against his lips felt unnatural until he eased into it, reaching for Nathan’s cheek with his hand. Nathan had tasted of orange juice his mom had brought them earlier.

After a few moments, Nathan had pulled away, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips.

“So,” Theo began this time.

“So,” Nathan repeated.

“What does this make us?” Theo asked, unable to stop a small smile from forming on his lips.

“Two witch boys who like to kiss?” Nathan suggested, smiling.

Theo’d punched him in the arm playfully.

“Boyfriends,” he’d suggested, shooting Theo a grin.

“Boyfriends sounds less lame than two witch boys who like to kiss.”

They’d both laughed at that.

“I swore on the river Styx, didn’t I?” Nathan asked.

“You did,” Theo giggled, “now you’re stuck with me. Forever.”

“I’ll take it, pumpkin spice.”

“Oh you better, witch boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this dumpester fire of a story!!


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